Special Guest Edition: 🔥 Ms. Horton 🔥
Part 1 of Duo Edition
JeKoOb: When did you start working in restorative justice?
Ms Horton: I started working in restorative justice after my college degree which was in peace conflict in human rights at Appalachian State University. After college I worked with some groups in Memphis Tennessee my hometown with restorative justice and then I got a job out in Denver at Denver North High School and made the move from Memphis to Denver to work for a school that had a strong restorative justice program.
JeKoOb: Why did you start working in restorative justice?
Ms Horton: I first became interested in the idea of peace when I was in 7th grade. My social studies teacher showed us the movie, “Gandhi,” and I was really inspired by what he did for his country of India and what non-violence meant. Then later, I realized that restorative justice was a very similar mindset and was taking hold in different parts of the United States and becoming a great way to build community in schools and cities in different places. So, I believed it was so much of coming together as a community and making sure that everyone felt safe and included and I knew I wanted that to be part of what my job would be.
Dekker: What’s your favorite part about restorative justice?
Ms Horton: My absolute favorite part of restorative justice is the idea that we all belong to a community, and when we belong to each other, even if you don’t like each other, we can still respect each other and have a place to be a part of something. That helps us feel included and also helps us when there’s bad days and good days.
Dekker: How long have you been working in restorative justice?
Ms Horton: I’ve been working with restorative justice as a restorative practices coordinator for DPS for 11 years now, 10 years here at Skinner.
JeKoOb: Has Skinner always practiced restorative justice? If not, what else did they do?
Ms Horton: Skinner has been practicing restorative justice in our school for one of the longest periods of time in DPS history. However, Skinner was not always a restorative school. They used to be very mean and have a zero tolerance mindset where if a kid messed up they had no opportunities to fix things, and they just got in trouble. We learned that that was not something that helped kids and helped our school community. So, we made the shift about 13-14 years ago and I’m so glad we did. I’m so thankful to be working for a restorative school community.
JeKoOb: What do you think we could do to make discipline better here at Skinner?
Ms Horton: Discipline is all about learning, so I want students and staff and everyone in our school community to feel like they can really learn through our choices even if it’s a bad choice or a mistake. So my hope for discipline at Skinner is that we always maintain our restorative peace so that we’re learning from our choices and can make things right if anything is ever made wrong in our community.
Dekker: Did you start working at Skinner the same time you did restorative justice?
Ms Horton: No, I actually worked at North High School first. I moved from Memphis to Denver and got a job at North High School doing restorative justice there. And then I got the opportunity to switch over to Skinner and work full-time at Skinner’s restorative practice as coordinator.
Dekker: Is there a certain person or thing that made you want to do restorative justice?
Ms Horton: My biggest inspiration growing up was learning about the historical figure Gandhi from India, but also learning from people that I actually got to work with in Memphis and at Appalachian State in North Carolina. They helped inspire me to want to do the restorative work. Then seeing great people in Denver who were restorative leaders, like Mr Walden and the Duran’s, made me really want to continue to do this sort of work and get better at it.
JeKoOb: Who is your favorite person ever born?
Ms Horton: Beyonce.
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